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While carbon often gets all the credit, alloy is far from obsolete, especially the M5 premium aluminum with D'Aluisio Smartweld technology found on the Epic Comp Alloy. It's lightweight, stiff, and can also take a beating. But not only that, you also get a redesigned version of the Brain suspension technology that's made the Epic famous.

Race courses have evolved over the past few years. They're more technical, steeper, and simply more challenging to ride. But instead of quivering in their boots, Specialized saw this as an opportunity to make something special—something that both World Cup athletes and XC riders alike can instantly feel the benefit from. They looked at the sum of parts that make a bike handle well, like the head angle, reach, stack, chainstay length, fork offset, etc., and reevaluated all of it. Increasing the reach made a bike that was more stable at speed and generally more comfortable to ride. Dropper posts? Yep, those fit, and not just a short-travel XC option, but full-length droppers that fit in the 30.9mm seat tube. Head angle? Specialized slacked that out, but not without evaluating the overall handling package. It now lands on a custom offset, 42mm fork that works with the slacker head angle in order to behave itself in tight corners and through switchbacks.

Next comes the redesigned Brain technology, Brain 2.0. The Brain changed the way the bike world looked at suspension, both its inefficiencies and benefits alike. And oh was it good. It won races and put a flag in the ground for Specialized as a true leader in innovation and suspension development, but they knew they could make it better. Simple physics said that, by moving the Brain closer to the rear axle, it would be in the most sensitive spot. And after countless hours with the RockShox team, the new Brain became more than just a slight upgrade. It's totally new. Now, it reacts seamlessly to bump forces, it has much more consistent damping performance, and finally, it integrates the hoses into the suspension links. This, in turn, improves oil paths, and it creates an incredibly sleek package that outperforms anything on the market.

At the heart of the construction, you'll find their M5 alloy with the exclusive D'Aluisio Smartweld Technology, which strategically places more welding material where it's needed, resulting in an aluminum bike that's more compliant and considerably stiffer at nearly every tube juncture.

The build of the Epic Comp Alloy is value-packed, featuring an 11-speed SRAM GX groupset, SRAM Level TL brakes, and a Roval Control alloy wheelset. Get ready, because this is going to be Epic.

- The M5 Premium Alloy frame with D'Aluisio Smartweld technology finally brings you all the benefits of alloy, like durability, in a lightweight package.

- A RockShox Reba RL fork soaks up the bumps up front, and features both compression and rebound adjustments.